Chapter 8: Restoration of Power

Dustin stood up, as Tori took a few steps back. She got into a fighting position, keeping her guard up. Watching Dustin take a few steps forward, she kept her eyes locked on him.

"Is this some kind of game?" She glared at him, "Why did you lock me down here?"

"Tori." He rolled his eyes, "You know I wouldn't do that."

"But you just did." She put her hands down a bit, "I overheard you and.."

"Look at me!" He pointed at himself, "I've been down here for a while, do I really think I would be able to pull all that off anyway?" He asked, "You got to believe me Tori."

Tori finally relaxed a bit and walked over and sat down. Dustin turned and follow, sitting down next to her. Sighing a bit, he scratched his dirty hair. Tori just leaned on him, trying to figure a way out of here.

"We need to warn the others." She whispered, "They all could be walking in a trap. Damn that Dustin clone." She grumbled, "He played us all."

"What did he say?" Dustin arched his eyebrows.

"Something about me and Hunter being related to Sakura in this time zone." She responded, "Just the crazy things."

"Actually. " Dustin trailed off, "That's kind of true."

"What?" She pushed off him, "He was telling the truth? Then what would he want with her? Why did he go through all the trouble to set up a fake kidnaped?"

"Simple I think." He responded, "They were all smoke and mirrors just to distract everyone and blake the academy."

"You're academy right?" She double checked, "The one you're clone is running still?"

Dustin stood up, "He's not a clone." He responded, "It's just some guy disguised like me."

"A ninja trick ?" She looked up at him, "I get it. So this guy was setting you up for a big fall."

Dustin punched the wall, frustrated. Tori walked over and banged against the door, hoping to pry it open. There was no luck, she couldn't get though. She then turned to him.

"Can I ask you something?" She placed her hands behind her back, "Did you ever blame us for leaving you here for the last 2 years?"

He stopped and thought for a second, turning his neck till he could see her, "I don't know. Sometimes yeah. Other times, I know there is a logical explanation. I never wanted to be King, my heart was still set on going on. To see Marah. To see all you guys, but then I betrayed and the other 'me' locked me away and killed the king, building a perfect plan."

She walked forward, turning him around and looking into his eyes, "We will find our way home." She forced a smile, "I promise you."

Dustin crept a bit closer, clearing the bangs from her face. She just looked up at him, he starred back into her eyes. She exhaled slowly as he ran his hands through the side of her hair. Hearing a creaking sound from the door, Tori broke away quickly and the two of them watched as it swung open and two guards came in.

"We have orders to bring you upstairs." One of the soldiers spoke, "If you comply, we wont have to kill you."

Tori nodded to Dustin and the two of them walked out of the dungeon. Walking up the long windings steps, the two of them made it to the top floor. Wondering why the clone Dustin let them out of the dungeon with little guards was a bit strange too them, but this was a chance for them to escape. Nodding to Tori, Dustin jumped off a wall and slammed his foot into the guard in front of him. The second guard reacted and ran forward, but Tori grabbed a hold of him and flipped him over. The brunette grabbed a hold of Tori and the two of them dashed down the hall way. Shane had been wondering around, as he turned the corner he noticed the two of them rushing towards him with guards chasing after them. With a quick reflex, Tori grabbed Shane and dragged him along. Figuring something was up, he ran along with them

"What the heck is going on!?" He shouted, "Why are we running!"

"Just keep running!" Dustin bolted to the left, "We'll explain when we get the hell out of here."

The three of them bursted through a double door and stopped a sec to look around. Dustin spun himself and noticed a window ledge. He then saw a few guards coming from both sides of the hallway.

"What are we going to do?" Tori backed away a bit, "Were surrounded and there is too many of them."

"This way." Dustin moved towards the window, "And don't stop running!"

Tori and Shane glanced at each other as they continued to run. Dustin went full speed, running ahead and smashing through the windows. Gasping and realizing what they were doing, Tori and Shane had already jumped out the window. The ground far below, it would kill an ordinary person but the three wind rangers used their ninja powers and bounced off the ground below and ninja streaked off. The fake Dustin watched from the window, grinning. His whole plans were working just the way he wanted it. Turning, he waved his hand and began to transform. Wearing black clothes and overlapping with red, the mysterious ninja began to walk around his room.

"Now to restore the ninja powers and rule this earth." He laughed, "And I can blame it all on Dustin. Everything is going just the way I want it."

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Cam was nearly complete with restoring the power to his Samurai Morpher. Hitting one last button, the morpher surged with green energy. Smiling, he headed over and grabbed it, watching it continue to glow.

"You did it!" Blake exclaimed, "That's awesome."

Cam nodded, "Let's hope this works." He hesitated for a sec, "Hold out you're moprher."

Blake did just that. Cam raised his morpher to the air and watch a navy aura began to surround Blake's morpher. A beam of light shot from Cam's morpher towards Blake's, and the navy ranger was able to feel the power flow through him again.

"Did it work?" Cam lowered his morpher, "Do you feel anything?"

Blake nodded, "I can feel the familiarity of it again." He grinned, "We should get the others."

The door bursted open and Dustin walked in. Blake turned and showed his morpher, showing that the whole thing worked. The King smiled.

"Excellent." He pulled out his morpher, "Let's get this over with."

"We should wait for the others." Blake suggested, "Do this all at once."

Marah appeared in the room again, "I can't find them." She joined in on the conversation, "I was looking for Tori. Any idea where they went Dustin?"

He turned, "Sadly yes." He responded, "I didn't want to tell you this, and worry you guys but.."

"What happened?" Cam blinked a bit, "Anything serious."

"Tori and Shane were kidnaped an hour ago." He informed them, "By imposters that looked like them."

"What?" Everyone chorus, "Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

"Because." Dustin tried to calm them, "I sent my best soldiers out to look for them and I didn't want you guys to worry and get distracted from the work you needed to get done. If we don't have our powers, we wont be able to save Sakura or the others now."

Marah bit her lips and looked at the others, "He's right."

Cam nodded, "Well we have our powers, so we should be able to get them back."

"Let's restore mine and find them." Dustin forced a smile, "I'm worried."

Hunter walked through the door, looking at everyone. He was a bit clueless and wondering why everyone had a concern look on their faces.

"Just in time bro." Blake held out his morpher, "We got our powers."

"Good." He walked a bit closer, "What's the matter?" He looked at everyone.

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The three wind rangers ninja streaked for who knows how long, but they had finally slowed down when they got deep into the city and behind an alleyway. Pressing against the wall, Dustin caught his breath as Tori looked around the corner to see if anyone somehow managed to follow them. Shane glanced at the two, waiting for an explanation, giving a bewildered and crazed look on his face. Dustin noticed it and pushed himself off the wall.

"The fake Dustin inside the castle is setting me up for a big fall. This whole time you have been tricked and deceived." He started to explain, "We have to figure out a plan to save Sakura, and get the others out of the castle before they restore the powers of our morphers."

"What?" Shane blurted out, "Are you serious?"

Tori spun around, "If the others don't know that there is a fake Dustin, he can pretty much frame us and make us look bad."

"Or worst, think we are imposters and that we kidnaped the real ones." He pointed out, "And right now, things aren't looking good."

"So what is the plan?" Tori leaned against the wall, "We can't hide forever."

"Were going to invade the academy. I know where it is located." He suggested, "It's our best shot."

"You two should go." Shane crossed his arms, "I want to go back and warn the others."

"Are you sure you can do that alone?" Dustin arched his eyebrows, "I don't want you to go knee deep into anything you can't handle."

He rolled his eyes, "Please." Smirking a bit he turned, "You know how to reach me."

Tori and Dustin watched as he quickly ninja streaked off again. Turning, the brunette began to walk out on the street, with Tori following behind. The two of them walked quickly, making sure no one was following them.

"So where are we exactly going?" Tori asked, "We don't have a lot of time."

"The Ninja Academy is this way, we are taking the back route so it might be a while." '

Half an hour had past and Tori was getting tired of walking. Resting a bit, the two of them had exited the city and into the woods. She sat down on a rock, catching her breath. Turning around, Dustin stopped and looked at her.

"You alright?" He asked, "We can't rest for too long."

"I know." She stretched a bit, "I haven't see a forest like this since we got here."

"That's because this is the last forest in Blue Bay." He sat down next to her, "Or what's left of Blue Bay anyway."

Tori smiled, "I'm really glad that the imposter wasn't the real you." She turned to him.

Dustin arched his eyebrow, "Oh? Why?"

"Because I missed the not so serious Dustin." She chuckled a bit, "And the fact you were such a jerk in the castle, or at least the one I thought was you."

"Tori." He laughed with her a bit, "I would never hurt you and you know that."

"That's why I didn't believe it for a second." She informed him, "I knew there was a logical explanation."

"I really missed you. 2 years in the future without my friends or motocross is a killer."

"Were here now." She brushed her hair out of the way, "And we will be going home together."

Dustin smiled as he pulled her close in a hug, the moon shined brightly over the forest as Dustin sighed a bit. Tori looked off in the distant still hugging Dustin. She closed her eyes and listened to his heart beat, starting to drift off into sleep.

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End chapter. Hope its doing good. Check out my short story if you have no, Tears of the Earth. A Dustin/Marah one chapter story. Thanks for rading!